Huayu: Traffic is king

Chapter 203 You like Shiba Inus?
On December 26th, Gu Jingyi, who had just shone brightly at the Weibo Night event the day before, arrived at the Tencent Music and Entertainment Awards.

He won Best Male Singer of the Year and Best-Selling Album of the Year, which were arguably the most prestigious awards at the entire ceremony.

Gu Jingyi, who has only been in the industry for a little over a year, defeated Mao Buyi and Hua Hua this time.

This is the first year, and not many veteran singers are attending.

Gu Jingyi examined the two trophies in his hands, feeling that they weren't quite weighty enough.

Lin Ze saw it in the rearview mirror and immediately guessed what Gu Jingyi meant.

"This is just the beginning; we have several more award ceremonies to come."

Gu Jingyi put down the trophy and posted a Weibo message. Then she looked up to reply, "I know, tomorrow is the Migu Music Awards. The day after is the Oriental Billboard Music Awards, and the day after that is the Global Chinese Music Awards. Sigh, I feel like a spinning top. I thought I could finally rest after filming 'Better Days,' but then I joined the cast of 'Go Go Squid!' And then there are all these award ceremonies. I'm so tired."

Lin Ze pushed up his glasses and teased, "That's what you say, but you call me again every time I finish my work."

Gu Jingyi smiled wryly; that's how he is.

For celebrities, having more holidays isn't necessarily a good thing...

Actors are just like ordinary people; when they're not filming, they spend their time at home picking their toes or flirting with girls.

There are only so many niches in the industry; if you take a long break, good projects won't wait for you to return to work. Hu Yitian once went 673 days without filming, and after trending on social media, he helplessly responded, "I've retired."

Gu Jingyi would only give himself a total of one month of vacation per year, but he would always reluctantly give up his vacation whenever he saw a good project or a good business opportunity.

At the top level, a single endorsement can be worth tens of millions. Take Gu Jingyi's current drama, "Go Go Squid!", as an example. He earns 120 million yuan per episode after tax, and with 41 episodes in total, that's half a small fortune.

A medium-sized TV series like "Go Go Squid!" only takes about three months to film.

Gu Jingyi doesn't need to be on set every day; he can take leave for important business matters.

How could he bear to give that up? Time is money!

Musically, Gu Jingyi produced two albums and one single in 2018.

The album broke sales records in the Chinese entertainment industry and has remained at the top ever since.

Needless to say, singles

Towards the end of the year, Gu Jingyi only went to award ceremonies he was certain he would win beforehand.

Gu Jingyi won the Migu Music Awards.

Most Commercially Valuable Singer of the Year. Gu Jingyi's physical album "Like the Wind" still holds the record for sales, making this award well-deserved.

The Top Ten Songs Award includes "Butter," "Like the Wind," and "Lover."

As soon as the music started, all eyes in the room were on Gu Jingyi.

Gu Jingyi smiled and raised the trophy, saying in his acceptance speech: "Thank you to my Jingfei fans for your patience in listening to every song on my album. Now I share my glory with you all, let's remember this moment together."

Honestly, if it weren't for the "pork distribution" (referring to the distribution of resources), Gu Jingyi would have easily secured eight of her "Top Ten Hits" based solely on her 2018 music charts.

However, these award ceremonies are not significant enough; the young king does not need them for coronation.

On the second day of the Oriental Billboard Music Awards, Gu Jingyi won two major awards: Best Album and Singer-Songwriter of the Year.

These two awards are quite prestigious, like having three peaches on a table. With so many people at the table, Gu Jingyi got two of them.

Another one was Gu Jingyi's idol, "Jay Chou," after the awards ceremony. Backstage, Gu Jingyi was teased by Jay Chou, who said, "These days, young people sell albums like they're drinking milk tea, one cup after another."

Gu Jingyi smiled and took a photo with him, which she then posted on Weibo.

The Weibo post immediately caused fans to be overjoyed.

"My favorite man and my favorite singer have finally met. I'm overjoyed as a fan of both."

"Congratulations Jingyi, you've successfully met your idol."

"Jingbao, you're so handsome! 555"

Last time, when Ding tried to ride on his coattails, Gu Jingyi responded by bringing Jay Chou into the fray.

This time, when they met backstage, Gu Jingyi, being a meticulous person, naturally had to put on a perfect act so as not to give anyone any reason to criticize him.

However, Gu Jingyi was really tired from attending one award ceremony after another.

"Alright, alright, stop looking down. Jingyi, today is the awards ceremony held by the Global Chinese Music Chart. You were nominated for Most Popular Male Singer, and 'Lover' has surpassed 50 billion views on Douyin. Even today, it remains firmly in the top ten on the trending song charts of QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music. This time, the best song should be 'Lover'."

Lin Ze had received news before arriving that Gu Jingyi would win Best Song this time.

"What about Best Male Singer?" Although he knew he would be competing with Rene Liu, and given his relatively short experience at the time, Gu Jingyi still wanted to give it a shot.

"As for Best Male Singer, it will most likely be either Rene Zhou or JJ Lin."

It was a standard answer, and Gu Jingyi wasn't too surprised.

After all, the awards ceremony held by the Global Chinese Music Chart is more established than the previous ones.

As Lin Ze predicted, Zhou Naicha won Best Singer.

Gu Jingyi's "Lover" won the Best Song award as the most-streamed Chinese song last year.

Before he could even get a proper rest at home, Gu Jingyi boarded a plane to Hong Kong Island to attend the MAMA awards ceremony.

As one of Asia's top award ceremonies, MAMA is a star-studded event every year.

As in previous years, this year's event will be held at the AsiaWorld-Expo Arena on Hong Kong Island.

It only takes a little over two hours to travel from Hongqiao Airport to Hong Kong Island International Airport.

For Gu Jingyi, such a short distance was something he could reach in the time it takes to take a nap.

First class offers spacious and comfortable accommodations with excellent privacy.

Lin Ze usually likes to take advantage of these occasions to discuss the itinerary with Gu Jingyi.

Just like with memory techniques, the content you memorize before bed and when you wake up in the morning is the least likely to be forgotten.

"Jingyi, today we are nominated for three awards: Best Asian Artist, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year."

"Among them, Song of the Year and Album of the Year are two of the three major awards. According to the MAMA's usual practice of 'distributing the spoils,' the major awards can only be won once. Among them, Album of the Year is more prestigious, while Song of the Year is relatively less so."

"MAMA had informed us beforehand that it had won Song of the Year."

Gu Jingyi nodded, indicating that he understood.

He's not a male idol active in K-pop, so it's already quite an achievement for him to win "three major awards".

The "Three Awards" have always been monopolized by artists from the Peninsula. Gu Jingyi was able to win one of them entirely because "Butter" was a "monster single".

It has been in the top 10 of the Billboard 100 Singles chart for thirteen consecutive weeks, showing impressive results and strong staying power.

This result has made South Koreans extremely proud.

On the one hand, they relentlessly criticize grades, and on the other hand, they secretly listen in.

However, these are mostly South Korean men; South Korean women, on the other hand, have a very uniform aesthetic.

The name "Gu Jingyi" represents "Yan Yongyi," a handsome man so striking that even passing ants would turn their heads and stop to admire him.

After he won the Grand Prize tonight, a war of words is inevitable among South Korean netizens.

Gu Jingyi's arrival at the airport this time undoubtedly caused another disruption.

At that time, Hong Kong Island did not yet have its own top stars, and it was only with the emergence of "Fat Ginger" that the aesthetics would change.

As soon as Gu Jingyi appeared, fans were eager to break through layers of security to get close to their idol.

Even with security guards surrounding Gu Jingyi in layers, some fans still managed to sneak a glimpse of his clothes through the gaps.

As soon as Gu Jingyi got into the van, his clothes were all wrinkled beyond recognition.

"Jingyi, look on the bright side. Luckily, this isn't the outfit you're wearing tonight for the awards ceremony. We'll change back when we get back to the hotel."

Lin Ze thought Gu Jingyi was upset about the clothes, but in reality, Gu Jingyi was just thinking about the award presenters for tonight.

Yoona took the initiative on Kakaotalk, which was unusual for her.

This isn't right, this is really wrong!
If something goes wrong, there must be a demon.

Yoona sunbaenim must have something on her mind tonight.

However, Gu Jingyi couldn't possibly tell his agent all this, since he was the one who paid for the team's expenses.

In a way, Lin Ze should call Gu Jingyi "boss".

What kind of logic is it for a boss to report their employees' whereabouts to them?

"Have all my battle robes arrived today?"

Gu Jingyi asked with great interest, after all, MAMA has always been one of the four major award ceremonies in the peninsula.

Although in recent years, there have been more and more award ceremonies hosted by music streaming organizations, such as the GMA.

However, when it comes to long-established award ceremonies, only four are truly renowned on the Peninsula: MMA, AAA, Golden Disc Awards, and MAMA. These four are considered the four top award ceremonies on the Peninsula.

But the most well-known are the Gold Records and MAMA.

The Gold Disc Award is highly prestigious in South Korea and is known as the "Grammy of the Peninsula".

MAMA, on the other hand, is the most well-known in Asia and relatively less exclusive.

While AAA stands for Asian Star Awards, its actual influence is far less than that of MAMA.

To give a simple example, you can see Yang Ying and Naza at MAMA. But AAA is almost entirely attended by South Korean idols and singers, which shows the difference in influence.

MAMA is also a music awards ceremony that receives attention in China.

With people both at home and abroad watching, Gu Jingyi naturally wanted to bring glory to his country and demonstrate the demeanor of an "envoy of the suzerain state" to the people of South Korea.

After all, his three-day trip to South Korea was marred by South Korean netizens criticizing him for his "nouveau riche style" because his clothing was considered too extravagant.

Tsk, if it's just an ultra-luxury brand, then it's just showing off wealth.

So what is Gu Jingyi wearing this haute couture outfit?

A mischievous glint flashed in Gu Jingyi's eyes.

“We were ready a long time ago. Your haute couture from Pirate King a few days ago was absolutely stunning. It got over 1.7 million views on Instagram in one day, and the brand really went viral. But didn’t you say that none of the styles Margiela sent this time were particularly to your liking? Elie Saab has been working hard to coordinate with us and has already sent the clothes.”

Lin Ze felt proud when he mentioned this.

This was before the end of the mask era, and the difficulty of haute couture was virtually insurmountable.

Especially for male stars with relatively weak fashion resources, even the post-85 generation of actresses find it extremely difficult to borrow ELIE SAAB's haute couture.

Even if you manage to borrow it, it will only be for the current season.

Gu Jingyi, on the other hand, is someone the brand has been working hard to communicate with Huace. The press release they sent was for an unreleased design; the official debut is scheduled for January 2019 at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week.

Note that this fashion week is not the same as the press releases commonly used by celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry. A top star appearing at Paris Fashion Week is not the same thing.

The Paris Fashion Week that Chinese celebrities love to release press releases for is ready-to-wear, while haute couture is called "haute couture".

Each piece of "haute couture" must use the finest luxury materials, such as silk and embroidery, to ensure the quality of the craftsmanship. A significant amount of manual labor is required to guarantee this.

Furthermore, each piece of haute couture cannot be mass-produced; it is unique.

Haute couture is almost exclusively commissioned by the world's wealthiest individuals and royalty, and its production costs are extremely high. A single garment can sell for millions or even tens of millions of dollars, and haute couture never goes out of season.

Out-of-season items are often referred to as "antique haute couture," but in reality, unless a piece of haute couture has special significance, the latest haute couture designs are definitely more valuable.

Gu Jingyi is attending the MAMA awards ceremony today, and the ELIE SAAB dress she's wearing is a long-established aristocrat in the haute couture world. It's on par with Margiela, second only to the four top haute couture brands.

This means that Gu Jingyi will be the first person in the world to wear ELIE SAAB today.

He even got into high-end fashion shows before the models, a feat that is unique in the Chinese entertainment industry.

“ELLE SAAB?” Gu Jingyi raised an eyebrow and asked with some surprise, “Isn’t that a brand that only makes haute couture women’s clothing?”

Gu Jingyi clearly remembers that in the original timeline, ELLE SAAB would not start making menswear haute couture until 2022.

"But they also have to cater to their male clients. Jingyi, the Margiela dress you wore last time topped the global fashion charts for several days. Margiela really boosted its brand awareness. Do you think other haute couture brands won't be envious?"

Gu Jingyi nodded, no longer dwelling on it.

Just because they don't advertise it publicly doesn't mean they don't actually have it.

Just like "our mother," her underwear is so deep that it is feared by many countries.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Gu Jingyi also saw the haute couture items that ELSE SAAB had airlifted over.

There are three items in total. The first one is a rather gorgeous-looking cloak with black, white and red interwoven.

Gu Jingyi thought it was too extravagant and he didn't like it. Besides, this was the same outfit that Cai Xukun wore in the original timeline in 2022.

The remaining two pieces are champagne-colored haute couture.

One was a long robe, with gold threads interwoven on it, reflecting different luster depending on the angle of the light.

The other garment was also a long robe, with exquisite sequin embroidery and a flowing, floor-length cape that also looked quite noble.

Both champagne-colored pieces exude a regal air and a sense of majesty.

"Jingyi, have you made your choice?"

Lin Ze kept urging, "I'm not going to hesitate anymore. I want this one with the gold and intricate patterns. It has a modern dragon robe feel to it, and it will make me look even more noble."

Gu Jingyi chose the first set; tonight, "Emperor Jing" will be going on an expedition!

After a simple meal, Gu Jingyi got her hair and makeup done at the beauty salon and boarded a van provided by the organizers to head to the venue.

The red carpet event began at 4 p.m., and when the black car bearing Gu Jingyi's name appeared at the end of the red carpet, the loudest cheers in the event's history erupted. A waiter respectfully opened Gu Jingyi's car door.

As he stepped onto the red carpet, a cacophony of screams and the clicking of camera shutters erupted from all directions.

"Gu Jingyi!"

"Jingyi oppa!"

Gu Jingyi, at the center of the storm, calmly stepped onto the red carpet.

He was wearing a high-end ELLE SAAB haute couture garment, and under the spotlight, the countless fine, pale gold threads and exquisite hand embroidery on the top reflected a dazzling light.

Gu Jingyi strode confidently down the red carpet, a few stray, slightly damp hairs falling casually across his forehead, further emphasizing his striking features. Under the cascading flashes of the cameras, Gu Jingyi walked with an air of nonchalance, looking like a medieval nobleman who had stepped out of time.

Such a stunning debut quickly swept across major global trends.

ELIE SAAB quickly claimed the title on the international website, describing Gu Jingyi as "China's fashion IKON, a king with innate nobility and prestige."

This move directly caused a major earthquake in the domestic fashion industry; no one expected Gu Jingyi to have such excellent fashion resources…

The fans were stunned; they hadn't even bothered to brag. Meanwhile, major fashion bloggers were already explaining the true value of the product in the comments.

"ELIE SAAB is a formal member of the French Haute Couture Federation. It is a well-established haute couture brand with a rich heritage, and its designs are famous for embroidery, starry sky, and ethereal beauty. This is the first time I have seen them release a men's haute couture collection, and Gu Jingyi is the first person in the world to wear it."

"Let's put it this way, Gu Jingyi is like the muse for haute couture."

"I'm an insider, but Gu Jingyi looks so handsome I'm speechless. Since Fan Bingbing's disappearance from the scene, the red carpet in the Chinese entertainment industry has lacked that special touch. But Gu Jingyi's appearance fills that void. His outfit is both noble and imposing, suddenly reminding me of Fan Bingbing's dragon robe on the red carpet..."

……

Gu Jingyi was unaware of the uproar in China. He was sitting in the center of the artists' section, with several cameras constantly filming him from various angles, frequently giving him close-ups of his face, and the cameras would switch to live streaming at any time.

Even when artists are performing or receiving awards, the camera frequently switches to Gu Jingyi to film his reactions.

Gu Jingyi simply sat there with an air of nobility, his expression barely changing.

What could he possibly be thinking? Even if he did, he wouldn't reveal it at the awards ceremony...

The awards ceremony was divided into two parts. In the first half, apart from giving Best Album to BTS, no other important awards were given out.

The second half of the show started with Twice's performance. They are one of the most popular girl groups in Peninsula in recent years, and their performance, including the video, lasted for nearly ten minutes.

When the popular girl group came on stage, Gu Jingyi naturally had to clap his hands politely.

The camera kept cutting in this direction, just to see Gu Jingyi's reaction.

Jackson Wang misunderstood, and his smile was ambiguous.

Which one do you like? Would you like me to introduce them to you?

"Need not"

"Forget it."

Jackson Wang raised an eyebrow; he didn't believe it.

"Do you like the one in the center? Her name is Lim Nayeon. She's the core of the group's concept, very energetic, right?"

Gu Jingyi shook his head. "The center position looks too much like a rabbit. Is this appropriate?"

"So, who do you like, Mina?"

Wang Jiaer then pointed to Minami, who was leading the dance, and there happened to be a wave in that part.

"I like the one in the red dress with the little hooks in her eyes."

Gu Jingyi's direction was so specific that Wang Jiaer quickly focused his attention on her.

However, after recognizing who it was, he looked at Gu Jingyi with a strange expression.

"Goodness, you've taken a fancy to a dog..."

Gu Jingyi was displeased and retorted, "How can you talk like that? She's clearly Osaka Sweetheart. She has a name, Minatozaki Sana!"

(End of this chapter)